TURKEY BREAST STUFFED WITH SEASONAL VEGETABLES

In my opinion, turkey meat is absolutely underrated.  I have never ever seen any turkey dishes in any establishments in which I have been eating, high or low.  You can, occasionally, find a cold turkey roll pressed between two slices of bread at the sandwich bar but that’s about it.

Yet, it is nutritious, delicious, lean and flavoursome.  Truth be told, I wasn’t using this meat myself until one day my husband decided to go on the 2:5 diet and was advised that turkey meat is leaner then chicken and much more beneficial for his purposes.

So here I was in the poultry aisle of the supermarket facing a dilemma of what to do with the turkey meat.  At the beginning, I was cooking it for my husband only, just simply slicing the breast into strips and letting him BBQ it, so initially twice a week I was cooking two different meals which was not practical at all.  So I decided to make an effort and cook something that the whole family would enjoy without breaking my husband’s strict diet.

So here is my take on turkey breast stuffed with seasonal vegetables

To feed 4 people you need:

2 turkey breasts

3 brown mushrooms

1 red capsicum

1 yellow capsicum

1 red onion finely diced

2 garlic cloves finely sliced

2 tbsp pine nuts

3 tbsp olive oil

1 tbsp butter

Salt and freshly ground black pepper
A sprinkle of smoked paprika 

1 sprig of thyme

Juice and zest of 1 lemon

Method:

Place a pan on a stove over medium heat.  Add 2 tbsp of olive oil and when warm, add sliced onions and garlic and sautee until soft and translucent.  While the onions are cooking, finely dice the mushrooms and capsicums into and add to the pan, throw in a spring of thyme and season well.  Cook the vegetables until tender, then add pine nuts and leave to cool.

Meanwhile, place one turkey breast on a chopping board between two pieces of wax paper or plastic wrap and gently pound with a mallet until it is about 2 cm thick (it may be easier to butterfly the breast first, depending on how thick it is.)  When butterflying the breast, make sure that you don’t go all the way through.

Season with salt and pepper, sprinkle some paprika and lemons zest. Spread a thin layer of the stuffing over the breast, leaving about 2cm border around all sides. Tightly roll the breast lengthwise and using a kitchen twine, secure it in few places along the roll.

Put the same pan in which you roasted the vegetables back on a stove on a medium heat, add the remaining oil and butter and gently fry the breast turning it from side to side to get an even lovely brown colour all over.  It will take about 20 minutes to cook the meat through, depending on the thickness.  Squeeze a juice of half a lemon over the rolled breast towards the end of the cooking.

Once cooked, remove the turkey from the pan and place in a warm place to rest for 5 minutes.  Then move to a chopping board, carefully remove the twine and using an extra sharp knife slice on an angle and arrange on a serving plate.  Pour the juices from the turkey back into the pan, add a spoon of lemon juice and a bit of butter and when become hot, pour over the sliced turkey.  Serve and enjoy!!!